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Spiced red herrings with orange and pumpkin

A really good weekend project. You can soak the herrings whole, but this takes about 24 hours and can result in uneven soaking, meaning they end up saltier on the inside than on the outside. In my experience, it’s best to skin and fillet the matured herrings yourself or ask the fishmonger to do it. Then soak the fillets in a large bowl of ice-cold water for about 8–12 hours or overnight in the fridge. Cut a small piece from one of the fillets and taste to see if it is sufficiently desalted. The taste should be slightly on the salty side, as the fillets will draw out further salt in the vinegar marinade. See pages 18–20 in AAMANNS smørrebrød for more information.

Ingredients

Lage - Spices for roasting
2 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp whole cloves
Lage
400 ml apple cider vinegar
400 ml caster sugar
100 ml water
100 ml dry sherry
1 large onion
6 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp whole dried or crushed piri-piri chilli
2 tsp ground sandalwood (available from pharmacies); may be omitted
The zest of 1½ organic oranges
Pumpkin compote
¼ Hokkaido pumpkin
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp coriander seeds
Juice of 1 orange
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Serving
2 oranges
1½ dl crème fraîche (38%)
3 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
1 small bunch of chervil
8 slices of rye bread, butter for the bread

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Instructions

Lage

Toast the spices briefly in a dry frying pan until they release their aroma. Place them in a spice grinder or mortar and crush them into a coarse powder. Place all the ingredients for the marinade – except the orange zest – in a saucepan and bring to the boil gently, stirring continuously. Leave to simmer for 5–10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the grated orange zest – take care not to include the white pith. Then leave the brine to cool. Place the soaked herrings in a sterilised preserving jar and pour the brine over them. Remember to fill the jars right to the top so that the herrings are always covered by the brine. Leave the herrings to marinate

Pumpkin compote

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and cut it into rough chunks – leave the skin on, as it is perfectly edible. Toss the chunks in oil, salt and pepper and bake them in the oven until completely tender, either covered with a lid or covered with foil, at 175 degrees for about 30 minutes. Place the baked pumpkin pieces in a bowl and mash them with a whisk to a coarse consistency. Toast the coriander seeds very briefly in a dry frying pan, crush them lightly in a mortar, mix them into the pumpkin purée and season to taste with orange juice and, if necessary, salt and pepper. Transfer the purée to a piping bag.

Serving

Peel the orange and cut it into segments – make sure to remove the white, bitter pith. Whip the crème fraîche until stiff using a whisk, season with a little salt and transfer to a piping bag. Spread butter on the rye bread. Drain the herrings, cut them into suitable pieces and place them on the rye bread. Alternately spoon dollops of crème fraîche and pumpkin compote on top of the herring and sprinkle with coarsely chopped, toasted pumpkin seeds and picked chervil.